It is conventional for material handling vehicles to be provided with a number of operator controls to control a material handling implement mounted on the machine and, where the machine is rotatable to control the slewing movement of the material handling vehicle. For example, where the vehicle comprises a rotating machine having a two-part boom and a bucket, it is known for the operator to have one joystick which controls slewing movement of the vehicle and operation of the boom by movement of a left hand joystick along orthogonal axes, and controls movement of the bucket and dipper using a right hand joystick, again by movement of the joystick along orthogonal axes. This particular arrangement is called the ISO configuration. It is also known for there to be alternative control configurations. For example, in the SAE configuration, the left hand joy stick controls the slewing movement of the vehicle and the right hand joystick controls operation of the bucket of the material handling vehicle apparatus, but the operation of the left hand joystick also controls operation of the dipper and the right hand joystick operation of the boom, in the reverse arrangement to the ISO configuration. The provision of these two different control configurations can cause difficulties in that it requires two different types of controls to be provided in a material handling vehicle depending on the market for which that the vehicle is intended, and can also lead to potential safety hazards when a operator used to one configuration encounters a machine with a different configuration.
It is known to provide adaptable controls which used, for example, electronic systems to detect movement of the joysticks and control hydraulic systems accordingly, but such systems can be complex and represent and additional cost on a material handling vehicle.
The aim of the present invention is to reduce or provide a new or improved control apparatus for a material handling vehicle.